Comments 47

B”H He shall be call just Yeshua, that’s it. Melech HaMashiach, King Messiah, Yeshua.
If Yeshua was passing by or standing just there and someone call “Jesus or even Jesus Ben David” or similar he wont answer, he wont reply for sure, his mother wont answer to Maria, but Miriam. Why then not just to stop with that mistake and call him Yeshua Ben Yosef, Melech Ha Mashiach , king messiah. Jesus means nothing, but Yeshua comes from Yeshuah…. keren Yeshuah…
sincerely Xuan

I don’t really have much to say other than your site has been quite refreshing. I’m lucky and thankful to speak Greek, as that has helped tremendously while reading the Septuagint and Greek NT versions (Stephanus, Wescott-Hort, etc etc).

So far I am agreeing with everything I’m reading so far, and getting insight into Jewish Idioms that are clearly there in the writing, but not easy to interpret simply from a reading of the Greek texts.

Not sure where to ask, but what do you think of George Lamsa and his interpretations of the New Testament? Particularly his claim that the Peshitta is the original written word and the Greek used it as a source?

I agree with his version that “A camel thru the eye of a needle” is actually supposed to be “a rope”, but mistranslated due to the similarity of the words in Aramaic between “camel” and “rope”.

That would be easy to happen even from Greek to English. Example:

Kamilo = Camel
Strouthokamilo = Ostrich
Kamilopardali = Giraffe

I wouldn’t blame a non Greek speaker for thinking these are similar words, refering to similar animals.

He also makes the case that “Father why has though forsaken me?” actually was supposed to be “Father why have you spared me?” or really meaning “Father, I’m suffering here! Why am I not dead yet? Isn’t my mission over?”

Ever so grateful for the recent editing and publishing of Lindsey’s unfinished article on the Major Contribution of the Minor Agreements to understanding the relationships between the Gospel writers.
The article itself is a major contribution to Synoptic Studies including its explorations of the Hebrew semantic domains behind even such common words as “stand” in the New Testament Greek.

I truly love your site and have read both your books and received tremendous insights to the difficult words of our Yeshua! I just read your “I stand corrected” on your writing regarding the term “Jehovah” and wanted to clarify that it is only the timeframe between the 9th century and the 1500’s regarding this observation and not the understanding that the term “Jehovah” is really not a word at all that you are correcting? I hope my question makes sense to you! In other words, does your contention that the word “Jehovah” is a non-word to a Hebrew still stand as you stated in your book? Thanks for your help in understanding!

I now have the opportunity to get to Israel about once a month for a few days. Do you have an office or local work in Jerusalem I can participate in? Possibly a recommendation for Hebrew language instructions also?

Received an email recently that you were sharing this “Hanukkah/Christmas season. David Bivin’s excellent book, New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus will be free (priced at $0.00) for the Kindle for 24 hours on Amazon.com which started December 10, 2015.” To my excitement I went there immediately to only discover that this truly good news is not so great. It was for those who are on Kindle ‘unlimited’ which is a $9.99 p/mo. plan offer from amazon. Which leaves one having to purchase the book anyway. Perhaps someday this work will be given out to all kindles and people, not just the one’s who purchase the plan or on some special plan or kindle devise. Thank you for your efforts and really like the articles when I can read them. However, I am unable to commit to a subscription to receive more and learn more of these wonderful teachings about our wonderful LORD Yewshua. May God continually bless you and Jerusalem Perspective.

Hello BGarrett, I believe the problem is the statement “I went there immediately” – we emailed the info on Wednesday evening saying the special would start at midnight Pacific time (or Thursday morning 8am GMT).

I purchased premium access because you had an intriguing article on the free portion of your site. But once I had paid, I discovered that my premium access still won’t deliver then full article. I like your site, but this is a bad first experience, and I am still trying to answer the question that made me find that article in the first place. Kind of frustrating.

Hello Richard, sorry for the delay in processing your account. Our system is a manual upgrade system and access is upgraded within a 24 hour window of payment. We try to process memberships twice a day. Hope you enjoy our site and over the coming 3 months your frustration ebbs as you enjoy the access to information our site provides.

Hi dpasch01, you actually purchased a gift certificate rather than upgrading your account. Though the gifts are intended for subscribers to gift subscriptions to others, I’ll make an exception for you. Your account should be active within a few hours.

HELP!! Forgive me for using “Comments” for this question, but I don’t know where else to go. I have tried to order a book “…Searching for the Core of Jesus’ message” but I have not been asked for credit card info. It keeps saying “loading” but doesn’t load and I have no idea if the order went through or not. I found your ordering rather difficult and had to look around even to find out where to order. I’ve just found you and look forward with much enthusiasm to learning more. As I have signed up for the 3 month trial subscription, and it tells me I’m signed up, you must have my Paypal info, so maybe that’s how but nothing came to me telling me so. Can someone please confirm that my order went through. Thank you. Lonnie Lane

Hi! I have already emailed about this, but I haven’t gotten any reply. I signed up for the trial Premium membership on 9/16, but I’m getting this message: “The “Premium membership” for “ebtownsend”
has already expired.” Um… no, it’s barely started. Yet I am unable to access any of the premium content. What gives???

If it will save time, here is my question: I ran across this quote yesterday from 2003 about which version of the Bible is most accurate:

“If I wanted to respond flippantly, I might say, “It depends on whether you are an optimist or a pessimist.” If you replied, “An optimist,” I would come back with, “Then all modern English translations of the New Testament are excellent!” If you replied, “A pessimist,” I would reply, “Then they are all dreadful.”

He said he was being flippant with that remark, but it really hit home with me because I have always found the Bible to be dreadful. I am very aware that I am a pessimist. Is there a way to read the Bible as a pessimist without finding it to be dreadful?

You may be interested in my new book, Secret of the Savior: The Myth of the Messiah in Mark, which analyzes the earliest account of the life of Jesus as an allegory of the history of Israel from the Essenic point of view written in response to the fall of Jerusalem. Jesus is a symbol of salvation, a composite character based on a series of savior figures, from Joshua to David to the Teacher of Righteousness, and others.

I have just read both your books, and feel utterly sad I never knew
about you before. You have answered so many vital questions. Your web
site is clearly a cornucopia of riches, and I intend to subscribe to it
soon, although money is a problem just now.

I write you now to ask if the mystery of the meaning of Matt 24:28 is
hidden in a Hebraism, the meaning of which is lost in the Greek?

If you have written about this, I’d love to know. It’s been driving me crazy for years.

@PatrickMurphy – I remember that feeling! 24 years ago…my understanding of Jesus and his teachings have been completely transformed by David and the other authors who contribute to this site.

RE: Matt 24:28 FROM DAVID BIVIN:
Luke 17:37b (parallel to Matt 24:28), “Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together” (KJV), is certainly one of the most enigmatic of Jesus’ sayings. Commentators have noted that Jesus employed a proverbial saying to reply to his disciples’ question, however they differ about what the proverb means in this context. Some understand it to mean that the Son of Man will inevitably appear just as eagles will inevitably show up where there is carrion. Others suggest that it refers to the swiftness with which the Son of Man will come in judgment. Still others take it to mean that the Son of Man will come when the world has become like a lifeless corpse, rotten with evil and ripe for judgment. None of these interpretations seems satisfactory in light of the disciples terse question: “Where?”

Part of the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research’s methodology is to translate sayings of Jesus into Hebrew to gain new insights into the meaning of the text. When this saying is put into Hebrew one notices a possible allusion to a passage from the book of Job that describes the habits of vultures: “It [the vulture] dwells among the rocks and there it lodges; its station is a crevice in the rock; from there it searches for food, keenly scanning the distance, that its brood may be gorged with blood; and where the slain are, there the vulture is” (Job 39:28-30, New English Bible). This passage concludes with the proverb to which Jesus seems to be alluding: ובאשר חללים שם הוא (uva’asher halalim sham hu), “and wherever there are slain, there it is.” Whenever the slain lie exposed in the open field, immediately vultures appear and huddle around them.

Many English versions of the Bible, like the King James Version, present the reader with four literalisms in translating the eight Greek words of Luke 17:37b:

1) “body” would be more idiomatically translated by “slain” or “dead body.” The singular of חללים (halalim, slain persons), the word used in Job 39:30, is probably behind the Greek word translated “body” in Luke 17:37 and “carcass” in Matthew 24:28. In biblical Hebrew halalim means wounded or slain persons, never carrion or the carcasses of animals.

2) “eagles” should be translated “vultures” (eagles do not feed on carrion). The confusion arises because נשרים (nesharim), the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek word translated “eagles” in Luke 17:37, the same Hebrew word used in the Job passage (see Job 39:27), can mean both “eagles” and “vultures.”

3) “will be gathered together” should be converted to the present tense: “gather together,” that is, “There the vultures gather together.” Hebrew proverbs use the future tense, but English proverbs use the present tense (e.g., “A stitch in time saves nine”). Future tense verbs in Hebrew proverbs must usually be changed to present tense when translating to English.

4) “the body,” and “the vultures,” though technically definite, have an indefinite sense in this context and should be translated as “a [dead] body” and “vultures.” In Hebrew the definite article “the” often has an indefinite sense.

A more idiomatic translation of this saying would be: “Wherever there is a slain person, there vultures gather.”

Jesus seems to be speaking of the rapture. This is indicated by the use of “taken” in the preceding verses: “There will be two men in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left” (Luke 17:34-35). “Take” is a Hebraism for “translate, rapture,” as in the case of Enoch of whom the Bible says: “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, for God took him” (Gen. 5:24).

Robert Lindsey reached the conclusion that the setting for Jesus’ saying was a meeting between Jesus and his disciples on the Mount of Olives just prior to his Ascension (Jesus Rabbi & Lord, p. 188). Jesus tells his disciples that at the rapture many people will be left behind (“one will be taken and the other left”). The disciples are concerned, and express this in just one word: איפה (eyfoh, where). “Where will you be, Lord? How will we reach you?” Jesus calms his disciples with a well-known proverb: “Wherever there is a slain person, there vultures gather,” that is, “Wherever I am, there you also will be.” At his appearance, the disciples instantaneously and miraculously will be found in his presence.

I wanted to print out Safrai’s articles about segregation in Ancient synagogue and place of women in 1st C synagogues to give to a Jewish friend who I was discussing this with today. Unfortunately, having hit the print button and printed them both out I find I am missing several words from each line so the print outs are useless. Any ideas why this should happen? Is it because I’m on A4 system in UK?

Panina, we are using the browsers print feature so the margins on the page should be controlled by your browser or your printer. You could try printing in landscape mode to see if that fixes the issue. One possible way to fix this might be to try another browser, there are many to choose from including Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, and Firefox.

Hello Mariela, here are the ways you can get to that authors page:
Below the title of the article is the authors name in a box (it is clickable).
On the left is the authors name and, for the most part, photo. The name under the photo is clickable.
On the right under “This article is tagged as” you will find one of the tags as being that authors name. This goes to another page than the first two links. This one lists all the articles by that author plus any other articles where that author is being written about, for example reviews of that authors work.

Also on the menu item “Study” and also “Info” there is the menu option “Authors” which will take you to a location where all of the authors are listed.

Much better. Very nice, very readable. The navigation is clear and uncomplicated. The theme’s style of putting author info in a side column is nice. I really appreciate the subdued look and feel.

I would like to see more custom excerpts from articles rather than just cropping the opening sentences, but that is quite a task to redo. Please try to make use of it this excellent feature moving forward.

I also found the pagination at the bottom of the page to be a bit confusing at first–I did not realize that the page that I was on was the dimmed page number. A touch of subtle color might be helpful here.

I find the link color for your footnote widget to be distracting to the text. I would like to see it toned down.

That’s about all I can nit-pick at the moment. Overall, a very good showing indeed.

JP now has the look of the more professional, scholarly sites for biblical studies. The content was always rich, and is now better organized. The new interactive features are positive and just so “21st century.” JP is one of the most wondrous sites for understanding the Jewish heritage and essence of Messianic faith. I would highly recommend the use of the term “Jewish heritage and essence” of the faith, over the more reductionist and problematic term “Jewish roots.” I discussed this briefly with David Bivin on my recent visit to Israel in June. Kudos to the entire staff of JP!

The site is great and much appreciated. I tried to answer the email that you very kindly sent me after an order I placed yesterday, but for some reason it has bounced back as being blocked for some strange reason. Anyway, just to say thanks for getting in touch and the enquiry – all is fine with the purchased download.

Brian,
The new website looks great.
Like Robin Benson, I can’t seem to send an email through to you. I replied to one of your mails and that got bounced back.
I tried the other email given on the website and that bounced back to.
I was at the UK workshop with David Bivin earlier in the year and have been desperately trying to get in touch with him via email. So any ideas what I can do?
Thanks.

I just purchased a renewal of my premium membership — receipt # 1065-0015-7906-2140. I am unable to get past the “basic membership has already expired” screen and am unable to download any premium articles. Can you help?

I’ve just posted a comment to Joshua Tilton, using my husband’s i-pad and account/password etc because I can’t figure out how to manipulate the site/comments/etc through my own laptop. We have multiple computers (strangely, since we’re both so technophobic) but only one perspective account. Bottom line, this way takes way too long. How can I get more direct access without a second account?

Incidentally, I am sooooo impressed by Joshua Tilton. But I do hope he rereads the Hebrew Scriptures before he makes another statement like the one about God (not) striking innocent people; perhaps Joshua just needs an editor. He is too promising – for all of us – to let such random (perhaps miswritten) statements be his premature undoing.

I hope you and your family are still feeling ‘pleasant vibes’ from your whole-year cross-continental adventure. In this season of thanks, I am thankful to know that even though they/you may not be close at hand, there exists ‘someplace’ a community of believers of kindred spirit and hope for future generations.

Hi Brian,
I have just purchased (renewed) a new premium membership but keep getting a screen that says Basic Membership already expired and so can’t get access to the full articles. Can you advise please.

Hi Brian,
I just paid for a trial membership and it’s saying it has expired (I never even got to use it and I can’t view the articles I paid to be able to view. Please let me know what I need to do.
Thanks!

Did Jesus regard John the Baptist as a prophet? As more than a prophet? What did he mean that the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than John the Baptist? Explore these questions in Yeshua’s Words about Yohanan the Immerser.

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